FPIs withdraw Rs 48,056 crore from equities in October so far amid elevated crude oil prices

Amid the elevated crude oil prices escalating tensions in West Asia foreign investors have withdrawn Rs 48056 crore from Indian equities in October so far according to news agency PTIOctober is still about Rs 48060 crore in the red on a settled basis That is a lot better than the Rs 52100 crore we were staring at a week ago but it already runs well ahead of Septembers Rs 35861 crore Dheeraj Gaur Chief Investment Strategy Officer Choice Wealth saidDuring the holidayshortened week commencing October 19 Foreign Portfolio Investors FPI had eased their selling pressure and had turned net buyers on two daysAccording to provisional data on the National Stock Exchange NSE FPIs sold Rs 1149 crore on Monday bought Rs 1022 crore on Wednesday sold Rs 3459 crore on Thursday and bought Rs 888 crore on FridayAccording to V K Vijayakumar Chief Investment Strategist Geojit Investments the moderation in US bond yields with the 10year yield declining from 536 per cent to around 5 per cent appreciation in the rupee to 9494 to the dollar and the low valuations particularly of the largecaps contributed to the moderation in sellingThe market was closed for trading on October 20 on account of DussehraThe settled numbers are kinder still Across the weekrsquos four custodian reports FPIs were net buyers of about Rs 4044 crore ndash roughly Rs 2643 crore on Mondayrsquos report a Rs 413 crore outflow on Wednesdayrsquos Rs 1659 crore on Thursdayrsquos and Rs 155 crore on Fridayrsquos he saidFridayrsquos report is worth a closer look Rs 2262 crore of secondarymarket selling was cancelled out by Rs 2417 crore of primarymarket inflows which looks very much like anchor money for the Jio Platforms issue Gaur saidCrude oil pressure weighs on foreign investorsHe noted that with Brent crude oil prices climbing to a fivemonth high to about USD 114 on amid concerns of energy supply after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia led to the FPI sellingThe resilience of the largecaps is mainly due to the accumulation of the fairly valued largecaps by the DIIs which are flush with funds The high crude prices is acting as a strong headwind for the economy and market So long as Brent crude remains above USD 100 there will be pressures on the economy and the FPIs are likely to sell the dip Vijayakumar saidForeign investors outflows in 2026According to data from the Central Depository Services Ltd CDSL FPIs had invested Rs 20200 crore in Indian equities in July and Rs 29631 crore in AugustThe cumulative FPI outflows from Indian equities in 2026 have reached Rs 308 lakh crore compared to Rs 166 lakh crore withdrawn during the entire year 2025 according to PTIMarket outlook for foreign investorsMarket participants will closely monitor the US Federal Reserversquos policy decision and the Bank of Japanrsquos rate decision for cues On the macroeconomic front US GDP data will be a key focus while movements in Brent crude prices developments in the USIran and RussiaUkraine conflicts and ongoing quarterly earnings will remain key drivers of investor sentimentGoing ahead the steady moderation in FII selling offers some comfort though elevated crude and sharp broadermarket weakness keep the downside risk alive Pabitro Mukherjee Deputy Vice President Research Bajaj Broking saidWith inputs from PTI